Alberta Brianti, Sara Errani successful at 2011 Internazionali BNL d’Italia
Wild card entrant Alberta Brianti thrashed out Chinese Jie Zheng 6-4, 7-5 on Tuesday to advance into the second round of 2011 Internazionali BNL D’Italia tournament in Rome.
Brianti hasn’t been in the best of forms since this season has started. The Italian has struggled to make a significant impact on the Women’s Tennis Association tour as she failed to reach past the second round of any of the tournaments
she has participated in. At the Australian Open she was thrashed out by number 29 seed Cibulkova. Her poor form continued at Pattaya City, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Qatar Ladies Open, Malaysian Open and Sony Ericsson Open as she slipped to world
number 65 in the world rankings.
The Italian has a special liking for the clay surface and will be hoping to restore some of the lost pride by making it all the way to finals of the prestigious clay court tournament here in Rome. However, there is still room for
improvement in her game play. The 31-year-old has a great opportunity to prove that she still belongs to this arena. Her next round opponent will be Hungarian Greta Arn who showed amazing character and determination to defeat 10th seed Svetlana
Kuznetsova 2-6, 7-6, 7-6.
Both players started the opening set confidently and looked to play their shots. Brianti held on to her serve games quite comfortably and created certain break opportunities. A break of serve in fourth game gave her a crucial 3-1
lead in the set. Brianti held the lead right till the end to take the set score lead 1-0.
The second set also followed a similar pattern as the contestants had not trouble claiming the game on their serve. Brianti displayed top quality tennis and managed another serve break to seal to the match in straight sets. Zheng
put up a brave fight but her poor shot selection led to her downfall.
Meanwhile Sara Errani eased past compatriot Roberta Vinci 6-2, 1-0 ret. to move ahead at the premier WTA tournament.
Errani broke the serve twice in the opener as she made her opponent’s game play look completely ineffective. She took a little bit time to settle down but once she started to time the ball, she created all sorts of problems for
her opponent.
Vinci, who looked out of sorts in the opening set, felt pain in her shoulder early in the second set and after consultation with a personal doctor she decided not to continue. Errani was awarded the win after Vinci’s retirement.
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